American Association for State and Local History

Japanese American Women: THREE GENERATIONS

Author(s): Mei Nakano
Source: History News, Vol. 45, No. 2 (March/April 1990), pp. 10-13
Published by: American Association for State and Local History
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/42656004
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 Japanese American
%tf/OMEN*v
THREE
GENERATIONS

by Mei Nakano

by women, is a relatively
T*he reeent by reeent
historyphenomenon.
women,Jt phenomenon.
has of is women, a relatively Jt told has
called into question the assump-
tions and principles that govern
traditional history . Jt challenges
us to a more inclusive view of his-
tory, one that reflects values
defined by women. Z his calls for
a record, not only of the heroic,
but of the undervalued, not merely

of events, but of human values

effecting, and being affected by,
those events. Jn a significant way,
the Japanese Amalean women 's
exhibit project, "Strength 4 'Di-
versity, " and a book, Japanese
American Women: Three Gen-
erations, 1890-1990, written in
tandem with the projed, do
exactly that.

Picture Bride, circa 1900s. Courtesy of the National Japanese American Historical Society, Inc.

10 ♦ HISTORY NEWS

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ISSEI, first generation Japanese, women began trickling into
this country around the turn of the century, then in sizable
numbers around 1915, more often than not as picture brides.
Japanese women emigrated for a variety of reasons, some
to comply to their parents' wishes, others because it presented
a last hope for marriage, a few for the adventure the new
"golden land" offered. Many also nurtured dreams of a
romantic pioneer life, filled with opportunities for riches.
But shortly, in 1920, because of agitation from anti-Japanese
forces in the United States, Japan stopped issuing passports
to these brides. Then, in 1924, the U.S. locked its gates to
emigration from Japan altogether, not to be reopened until
1952.
This immigration policy produced in the Japanese com-
munity a limited group of immigrant women with a limited
span of child-bearing years, the consequence of which was
to set off a discrete generational pattern that was to mark
the Japanese American population. In short, the terms Issei,
Nisei, and Sansei , used to denote members of the first three
generations respectively, came into the lexicon due to histor-
Japanese American Farmworkers, Bacon Island ' Stockton ,
ical conditions imposed on Japanese women immigrants. California , 1945. Photograph, National Archives.
The terms and what they represent are part and parcel of
the history of the Japanese in this country. At least five gener- Z he first job J did was farm work. Women worked all day
with the men. Since our baby was born, J had to put my baby
ations of Japanese Americans reside here today. But the
in a stroller and kept on working. / fed her only at a certain
exhibit and the book are mainly concerned with the first time and couldn't hold her even if she cried. After the fields,
three, since the fourth and fifth generations are still in their J had to prepare our supper and the next day s lunch, to wash
teens and younger. the baby's diapers, and clean the house. J never went to bed
before eleven o'clock . .
Oral histories and diaries of Issei women suggest they
largely were ignorant of the institutionalized policy of dis-
crimination against the Japanese that prevailed prior to their " W
arrival in the U.S. By 1906, labor and agricultural interests, wor
ambitious politicians, and exclusionist groups, abetted by stit
it ... . "
the press, already had been clamoring for an end to Japa-
nese immigration. In rapid succession, measures such as those
which ordered Nisei (second generation) children into
segregated schools (San Francisco, 1906), the executive order
issued by Theodore Roosevelt, terminating migration
through Hawaii, Canada, and Mexico (1907), and the so-
called Gendemen's Agreement (1907-08) collectively singled
out the Japanese for discriminatory treatment.
The Gentlemen's Agreement had been designed to curb
the entry of Japanese laborers. Under pressure from Califor-
nians and the U.S. government, Japan agreed not to issue
any further passports to laborers. The Agreement, however,
did not strictly prohibit the entry of certain other persons,
among them immediate relatives of established residents of
the U.S. Male immigrants seized this opportunity to claim
a bride by proxy. Thus in practice, while drastically cutting
the flow of male immigration, the agreement marked the
beginning of the greatest concentrated influx of Japanese
brides in U.S. history. The majority- more than 20,000 of
them - emigrated between 1908 and 1920.
In addition to the ban against further immigration from
Japan, Issei were prohibited by law from gaining citizen-
ship, from marrying Caucasians, and from owning land in
the states of California, Washington, and Oregon as well Evacuation Day , 1942, Bainbridge Island, Washington.
as at least a half dozen other states in the west. Courtesy of the Museum of History and Industry.

MARCH/APRIL 1990 ► 11

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 Whatever the brides' expectations of this new country, they
became initiated into the rigors of pioneer life almost as soon
as they set foot on shore. In that regard, it is worth noting
here that a significant difference existed between the
experience of Issei women immigrants and their European
counterparts. In the case of European immigrants, a divi-
sion of labor between the male and female occurred in the
early stages of pioneer life. After the land had been cleared
and a dwelling built, men worked outside, the women
indoors.
But in the case of Japanese immigrants who were syste-
matically barred from favored jobs and unions, from own-
ing real property, and having the advantage of citizenship,
the family's economic well-being was thwarted severely. Thus,
almost without exception, Issei women were required to pro-
vide outside labor, paid or unpaid, for a protracted period;
their work was critical to the survival of the family, espe-
cially after children began to arrive.
Issei women worked in the fields and in labor camps as
cooks for their husbands' work crews, also in sawmills and
canneries. Later, in urban areas, they labored alongside their
husbands in such family-owned enterprises as laundries, small
hotels, plant nurseries, and small eateries. Or, they entered
domestic service, since this work required litde training, min-
imal knowledge of English, and the work hours were flexi-
ble. Domestic work comprised over one-fourth of Issei
women's work in 1920, second only to the rate for agricul-
tural work.
Largely because of the deterrents placed against their pro-
gress in this society, but also from cultural predilection,
"kodomo no tame ni", (for the sake of the children) became
the watchword for the Issei. This strong sense of family per-
sisted through the second and third generations as an impor-
tant legacy for survival and success. Male dominance and
privilege ruled in traditional Japanese society. Roles were
clearly defined, and women were not likely to get much help
from their spouses in managing the household and bring-
ing up the children, often as many as ten. But by the time
of World War II, many of these children, the Nisei, had
grown into young adults and were taking their share of the
responsibilities in the home. Some were even contributing
to the family coffers.
The bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941,
produced the single, most wrenching episode in the lives
of Japanese in the U.S. On February 19, 1942, fully two
months after the bombing, President Franklin D. Roosevelt
issued Executive Order 9066, ordering the removal of over
112,000 persons of Japanese ancestry from their homes in
California, Washington, and Oregon. Eventually, they would
be herded into ten concentration camps outside the desig-
nated military zones on the West Coast.
How such a breach of the constitutional rights of citizens
could have occurred has been discussed in great detail in a
number of publications. The findings of the U.S. govern-
ment's own investigative commission in 1982 cited that the
decisions leading to the exclusion were not driven by mili-
tary conditions and that "the broad historical causes which
12 ♦ HISTORY NEWS
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shaped these decisions were race prejudice , war hysteria, and
a failure of political leadership ."
For the Issei, the removal and incarceration may have been
viewed as a culmination of the heavy-handed treatment they
had received since they had set foot on American soil. But
for the Nisei, it was a stunning blow. They were citizens,
after all, and most had striven to be "100% American." But
they were young (the majority had been born between 1915
and 1940), without political power, and given with cultural
norms emphasizing obedience, so they marched into camp
more or less without incident. (Three men, however, defied
the orders, and were imprisoned.) Out of the 112,000 per-
sons who were interned initially, 72,000 were citizens. At
least half of this number were Nisei females, the majority
between fifteen and thirty years of age, densely clustered
around age seventeen.
The majority of Nisei females were in school when the
exclusion orders came. Typically, they had grown up in hum-
ble, but not severely impoverished, circumstances. Bilingual
and bicultural, they served as links to the larger society for
their parents, who spoke little English. Later, they would
serve as a bridge between their Issei parents and their San-
sei children, who spoke no Japanese.
Even as Nisei women had been imbued with many Japa-
nese cultural values such as a strong sense of obligation, a
strong work ethic, and a tendency to put group needs
(including that of the family) before individual needs, they
identified with America rather than Japan. Most had been
isolated within their own community, buffered against the
hostility of the outside and few interacted with white Ameri-
cans socially, outside of school or business. Thus, when the
order for their removal came, they received no measurable
support to oppose it from the outside.
Little in the stark, fragmented environment of the camps
fostered a harmonious, cohesive family life. The housing
units, barren and cramped, hardly encouraged family mem-
bers to spend time together. In fact, teenagers spent most
of their time with friends outside the living units, even eat-
ing their meals together. Special celebrations, such as those
for birthdays or holidays, became public ones.
For the Japanese society, in which the family took on great
importance, these conditions threatened the very founda-
tion of their lives. In this sense, the women's role as facilita-
tor and maintainer of the home base was crucial. While men
traveled in and out of camp to do short term outside farm
work, women tended the children and saw to the needs of
Issei parents, with many men now ailing. When young men
began enlisting in the armed forces, women took sole charge
of the families.
In camp, women found a wide range of work, albeit at
pauper's pay. They worked as food servers, secretaries, hospital
personnel, and any number of jobs at the camp coopera-
tive enterprises. The few who had attained two or more years
of college served as teachers, nurses, writers, and artists for
the camp newspapers and social workers.
By the end of 1944, the exclusion of Japanese from the
West Coast had about spent its specious rationale. Some
36,000 former inmates of camp already had resettled in var-
ious parts of the nation and had been found loyal, indus-
trious, and law-abiding. The remarkable performance of the
Nisei troops had gone a long way toward promoting com-
munity acceptance of Japanese Americans at the same time
that the Allied offensive in the Pacific was going well. Thus,
on December 17, 1944, two years and nine months after it
had been handed down, the order for exclusion was res-
cinded. In the ensuing months and years, the exiled Japa-
nese would tread the long road westward to places from
which they had come.
But even as the Nisei established themselves in the post-
war period in homes and jobs and thrived in the new, more
amenable, socio-political climate, the matter of their incar-
ceration had not been buried, laid to rest. Early in 1970,
a proposal to demand redress for this egregious violation
of their civil rights was promulgated by the Japanese Ameri-
can Citizen's League, a well-established national civil rights
organization. But not until the 1980s did a bill appear before
Congress. After successive trials and failures, a redress bill,
The Civil Rights Act, was finally passed on August 10, 1988,
requiring that the government tender an apology and pay-
Nihonmachi Little friends Day School ' 1990. Photograph
ment of $20,000 to eligible Japanese Americans. The bill © 1990 by Rick Rocamora.
also called for the establishment of a public educational fund.
When guests visit my parents , the topic of conversation centers
Nisei and Sansei women played key roles in effecting the around the redress movement Z heir confidence buoyed by the
passage of this measure. One of the most compelling books collective efforts of local and national redress groups, my par-

( Years of Infamy, William Morrow & Co., 1976) concerning
this episode came from the pen of Michi Weglyn, a Nisei.
Painstakingly researched, utilizing primary documents, the
work was often cited by members of the government com-
mission to study the issue. Another Nisei, Aiko Ifoshinaga-
Herzig, spent untold hours ferreting out documents from
the National Archives and came up with a critical piece of
evidence which all but shattered the Army's contention that
the removal of Japanese Americans had been executed
because of "military necessity." Also, Grayce Uyehara, execu-
tive director of the educational arm of JACL, organized major
letter-writing campaigns and helped shepherd the bill
through Congress.
Many Sansei also put themselves in the forefront of this
campaign. Although few of them had been incarcerated,
they had virtually cut their teeth on the student strikes of
the 1960s and had passed through the fire of the Vietnam
protests. Now, those who remained connected with the Jap-
anese community were understandably incensed at the cru-
elty of this miscarriage of justice. They used their education
and training to organize publicity campaigns as well as
exploit political angles in the interest of the redress issue.
That the redress bill was finally passed was in no small way
due to their energy and expertise.
The majority of these Sansei had been born between 1940
and I960. Most had grown up in urban and suburban areas
in a comfortable, middle-class environment. By the time they
started to school, the political climate in the U.S. had
changed measurably from pre-World War II so that most
went about their business, confident of their birthright, an
attitude that had not been common among their parents.
ents are no longer afraid to speak out Z he redress movement
has become a symbol of Japanese American liberation. 'My par-
ents are again proud to be Japanese. "
In 1973, as many as 88% of the Sansei had completed
some college training. The rate is likely much higher today.
They also appear to be the most highly assimilated Asian
Pacific group today. It follows that a marked characteristic
of this group would be its diversity in comparison to the
relatively homogeneous Issei and Nisei generations. But even
as their life styles and choices of careers are as diverse as those
in the general population, Sansei women are forced to deal
with the same difficulties that face women the country over:
juggling their time between their careers and home and
demanding equality in the work place. And divorce, which
occurred quite infrequently in the Issei and Nisei genera-
tions, appears to be increasingly common among the Sansei.
While Sansei women have reached the penultimate states
of integration into American society, far beyond that to which
their mothers would have aspired, they have still to gain entry
into high level executive positions in large business, indus-
try, and government and have yet to exert measurable polit-
ical influence. They have not, however, hit their peak years.
And as they continue to push the boundaries of their former
limits, something will have to give. For their progeny and
for society as a whole, one hopes profoundly that it will not
be the values that have sustained them and the generations
before. -hn
Mei Nakano, auth
chaired the firs
in Northern Cal

MARCH/APRIL 1990 ♦ 13

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